Stripping and stacking apparatus and method



c. H. DOMVILLE, JR, ETAL 2,392,032

STRIPPING AND STACKING APPARATUS AND METHOD Filed Feb. 10, 1944 Sheets-Sheet 1 A 5N mun: g

VA? 0&5 Charles k'flom'l/ille J9.

Earl EGrgy.

Jan. 1, 1946- c. H. DOMVILLE. JR.. ETAL 2,392,032

STRIPPING AND STACKING APPARATUS AND METHOD 7 Filed Feb. 10, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jam. 1 19%6.

C.H. DOMVELLE, JR, ET AL Filed Feb. 10, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 ii we; J 5 I, :I 1': 1! a7 86 I Y I ll I: I} 74 II :1 58-- I 6'3 i 66 7 68 I2 62' 54 ii "fl 66 a 5 84 as 64 55 7 '69 J/E- Z0 5 Charles iivmz z lleJ f @TZE'. 6x 5 Patented Jan. 1, 1946 Charles H. Domville. Jr., Glen Ellyn, and Earl B. Gray, Chicago, Ill., asslgnors to Caspers 'lin Plate Company. Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application February 10,1344, Serial No. 523,800 (Cl. 27169) 8 Claims.

' Our invention relates to a novel method and apparatus adapted particularly for stripping sheets or plates from a structure such as an endless conveyor and capable of stacking the stripped sheets or plates in one or more receiving structures. For example, in Albright Patent 2,129,634 issued September 30, 1938, an oven structure is shown through which metal sheets or plates are carried to be dried after being enameled, varnished, lacquered or otherwise coated, and our invention was designed more particularly for use in connection with such oven structure to strip the plates from the end of the oven conveyor and to arrange them in one or more stacks for further processing or transport.

.A feature of the invention is the manner in which a receiving conveyor operates to strip plates or sheets from a rack or finger equipped conveyor carrying the plates in upright positions between the fingers along the upper run of the conveyor. In accordance with the invention this receiving conveyor is positioned to receive the Figure 4 is an end elevation of ceiving structures;

Figure 5 is an enlarged longitudinal section on plane VV of Figure .6, of the movable receiving one of the re I structure;

Figure 6 is a section on line VI-VI ofFlsure 5; and Figure 7 is an enlarged section on planeV'IL- VII of Figure 3.

plates from the fingers as the fingers swing from the upper to the lower runs of the conveyor. The receiving conveyor is driven at such a speed that it will pull the plates out from between the fingers before the plates can contact an adjacent finger. The plates are successively stripped with the leading ends of the plates initially contacting the receiving conveyor, whereupon this conveyor 80 pulls the plates completely oil of the lingers.

'An important object .is to so position a carrier relative to the endof a rack or finger-carrying conveyor to strip sheets or plates from theracks or fingers without permitting the sheets or plates to be dragged over each other or along a previous finger. v 1

An important object of the invention is to strip racked plates from a conveyor by pulling the plates out of the conveyor as they assume downwardly inclined positions at the'end of the con- The oven 0 may be of thesame construction and operation as the oven' disclosed in Patent No. 2,129,634 hereinbefore referred to. The plates W are coated and set in between racks or fingers to secured to a conveyor chain I I, to lean on a flnger so that the coated faces thereof are out of contact with the fingers. The plates are conveyed through the oven to be dried. The conveyor chain II is supported and driven by sprocket gears i2 and i3.

Figure 2 shows the discharge end of the oven structure and the stripping and stacking apparatus for receiving and stacking the plates or sheets. The supporting frame works for the conveyor mechanism of the stacking apparatus comprises front side legs l4 and I5 and the rear legs It and it. The front and rear legs are connected together by cross-bars It. The conveyor structure is mounted on top of the frame and comprises the inner non-shiitable or stationary portion t, the outer non-shiftable or stationary portion B and the intermediate shiitable or movable portion C. Secured to the upper ends of the front legs It and Iii is a side wall I! and on the rear legs [4' and I5 is mounted a side wall Inparallel with the front side wall ll. These side walls are connected by cross-rods 19, The outer veyor run so that the racks move away from the .pulled plates and the plates float" oil of the racks.

A specific object of the invention is to rapidly of strip coated metal sheets-from conveyoriracks without damaging the coating.

Other and further objects of our invention will become apparent tothose skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the drawings which disclose a practical and eiilcient embodiment of our invention.

On the. drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of an oven structure from which treated plates are to be delivered to 65,

.the stacking apparatus;

Figure 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the stacking apparatus and the discharge end of the oven structure;

' Figure 3 is a plan view ratus showing in dotted lines one of the receive structures pulled out for unloading; v

ture are portions of'the side walls are substantially hori-' zontal but the inner portions I1 and I 8' of the walls slope downwardly as clearly shown in Fig ure 2.

Between the outer ends of the side walls I1 and I8 extends a shaft 2il..which is iournalled in the side walls and carries a number of belt-pulleys 2|. At the inner ends oi the outer portions of the side walls extends a shaft 22 which is journalled in the side walls and carries a number of pulleys 23, the opposed pulleys 2| and 23 carrying the conveyor belts 24. Between the inner ends of the side wall portions l1 and it extends a shaft 25, journailed in the walls and. carrying a number of beltpulleys 26. On a bracket 21 extending from the rear leg I5 is mounted an electric motor 28 which, through reduction gearing 29, drives a pulley 30 connected by belt 3| with a pulley 32 on the rear end of the shaft 25. This shaft also supports a sprocket wheel 33 connected by the chain belt 84. with a'sprocket wheel 35 on the rear end of the shaft 22. The motor thus rotates the shafts 25 and 22 and the shaft 2ll.isrotated by the oi the stacking appabelts 24. i v 4 Extending from the end wall or the oven strucbrackets 36 and 36"between whose outer ends extends a shaft 31 journalled in the brackets and supporting pulleys 38, these pulleys being horizontal positions around the sprocket is from the up er to the lower run of the conveyor. The plates are carried by the fingers or racks to downwardly inclined positions and are stripped from the conveyor II when at least their leading or outer ends are below the center line of the conveyor. This downwardly inclined position of each plate being stripped provides for the floating" of the plates out of the conveyor since the stripper belts pull the leading ends of the plates outwardly from the conveyor as the supporting fingers are swinging downwardly and inwardly away from the stripper belts. Thus the fingers move away from the plates being stripped, and dragging of the plates on the fingers is minimized.

The fingers or racks It are preferably shorter than the plates W so that the leading ends of the plates are above or out from the ends of the finsers to contact the belts it while the fingers clear the belts. The belts can be positioned so that the plates W will slide downwardly by gravity until its leading edge hits the belts 39, whereupon the belts will pull it off of the finger before it can contact the next adjacent finger. Alternately the belts can be positioned so that the leading edge of the plate contacts the belts before any sliding of the plate occurs. In either arrangement the belts ll are in the path of the leading end of the plate to pull the plate off of the finger.

' plates W as the fingers or racks Ill swing beyond;

' The speed of the belts-is sufiicient to pull the plates clear of the next discharging finger or rack so that the pulled plate will not be dragged along a next'adiacent finger or rack.

Describing now the arrangement at the intermediate or movable portion C of the carrier assembly, front and rear side plates ll and 42 are located .just inside of and pivoted at their outer ends to the front and rear side walls I! and It, respectively. as shown at 43 and 44. At their outer ends the plates 4| and 42 journal a shaft 45 sup-.

porting the pulleys 4! which are connected by belts 41 with the pulleys 28 on the shaft 2! which is driven from the motor 28. A distance below the side plates I and 42 a shaft ll extends through and is Journalled in the front and rear legs II and II of the supporting frame structure. This shaft is connected through toggle mechanism with the plates 4| and 42 whereby upon turning of the shaft the plates may be swung into par-.

'allelism with the walls I! and II or may be swung downwardly. Referring to Figures 3- and 7, a collar I secured to the shaft has a toggle arm I. extending therefrom which is pivoted at its end to the togglelink ll pivoted to the wall 4|. The collar II on the shaft has similar tosgle 6011-. nections with the rear wall 42. On the front end of the shaft 48 is secured a hub II from which extends a setting lever II. Figure .7 shows the W conveyed by the belts at the carrier portion A are received by and trarisini't'fed"by thebelts 41 on to the belts 24, but when the walls ll and 42 are swung down, as shown on Figure 2, this travel of the plates is interrupted and the plates will be discharged from the ends of the belts 41 below the plane of the belts 2t.

Although an electric motor 2: has been shown for operating the conveyor belts. it is evident that the main drive shaft 25 could be driven from the shaft I3 which supports the sprocket wheel II for the carrier belts II in the oven 0. In.whatever manner the shaft 25 is driven, the speed of the carrier belts should be sufilciently greater than the speed of the oven plate carrier belts Ii so that when the plates W are delivered from the oven to the carrier belts 39, as shown on Figure 2. they will be quickly carried away consecutively by the belts without overlapping.

Describing now the receiving structures on which the plates are to be delivered and stacked. two such structures M and S are shown. The receiver structure 8 is stationarily mounted adjacent to the outer end of the conveyor assembly to receive plates from the conveyor belts 24. The

receiver M is a movable structure to be located within the conveyor structure supporting frame to receive the plates from the belts 41 when the conveyor intermediate portion 0 is in its lower position, as shown on Figure 2.

The construction of the movable carrier M is shown on Figures 2, 3, 5 and 6. The structure comprises a rectangular horizontal body frame 54, preferably of metal, from which bearing brackets extend downwardly for journalling supporting wheels 56. A floor plate 51 is secured on top of the body frame 54 and at the ends of this floor plate are mounted guide standards 5' and- 58 which are movable longitudinally under guidance of tongues so and ll. respectively, engaging in slots 62 and 63, respectively, in the floor plate.

Within the body frame It a shaft 64 extends longitudinally and is journalled at its ends in the front and rear flanges l5 and 66 of the body frame. Along its endsthis shaft is threaded to receive respectively the threaded blocks-J1 and i8 secured to and extending downwardly from the standards as and II. respectively, through the guide slots 62 and O3 in the floor plate 51. At one end of the shaft the threading is left hand and at the other end it is right hand so that when .H ar hingedto the sides of the standards and ll, respectively. When the standards are adjusted relatively by operation of the screw shaft N, the doors move bodily with the standards, and when the doors are closed they p'ro-J vid with the standards a rectangular space for receiving and aligning plates delivered from the conveyor structure. The doors are held in closed position by a bar II pivoted at one end on one of the doors and engageable in end cleats I! on the doors. When the bar is swung out of the .cleats. the doors may be opened for unloadingof the plate stack collected on the receiver M.

On the floor plate" of the receiving structure M opposite to the'doors, a guide standard I4 .is mounted for transverse movement on the floor plate'under guidance of a tongue II extending from the standard through the guide slot 16 in the floor-plate. A block 'Il extends from escapes the standard through the 'guideslot to receive the threaded shaft II which is iournalled at its outer end in the side fiange I! of the body frame details of construction may be varied through a It and at its inner end in a cross-wall 80. A ion 'gitudlnally extending shaft ll is journalled in the.

front flange 65 01' the body frame 54 and in a bracket 82 extending from the fioor plate. This shaft ll mounts a bevel gear I! meshing the bevel gear N on the screw shaft II so that when the shaft II is turned by its hand wheel 8! (Fig. 2). the guide standard may be moved inwardly or outwardly transversely on the floor plate 51. By manipulation of the hand wheels 69 and 85 and turning of the screw shafts 64 and I8, th guide standards I, I8 and it can' be set to define the length and .width of the space into'which the particular size of the "oven to th conveyor structure are tobe received .and stacked in vertical alignment. At their upper-ends the standards 5. and 59 are inclined as indicated at '8 and the standard II has the inclined upper end l1, these inclined ends guiding the received plates into alignment to form the stacks. The stationary receiver 8 is constructed like the receiver M except that, instead of having wheels, it'is stationarily mounted on a support 88.

The in and out movement of the receiver M is guided by rails 89. It is provided with a hand rail ll by which it may be readily moved into or out of plate receiving position. Figure 2 shows the receiver M within the supporting frame work for the carrier belt assembly and in position to receive plates from the belts 41 of the intermediate conveyor section 0. The stationary receiver S has been filled with plates and is'ready for unloading; This is accomplished by openplates or sheets delivered from wide range withoutdeparting from theprlnciples of this invention and it is, therefora not the purpose to limit the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope. of the appended claims.

We claim as our invention:

1, The method of stripping sheet material from a conveyor carrying the sheet material between upright fingers thereof which'comprises successively swinging the sheet material and fingers from upright position to downwardly inclined position, successively contacting the leading ends of the downwardly inclined sheet material with a traveling member, and pulling said sheet material on said traveling member out of the path of the fingers and away from the next adjacent sheet material while at the same time swinging the supporting fingers away from the faces of sheet 'material being pulled therefrom so that dragging contact between the .faces of the sheet material and the supporting fingers is substantially avoided while there is relative movement between the sheet material and thefingers as the sheet material is pulled therefrom by the traveling member.

2. The method of stripping racked material from a conveyor carrying the material along an upper run thereof between upright fingers which comprises swinging the material on said fingers from upright. position to downwardly inclined "position-successively pulling the leading ends of dragging the faces of the ing the doors 10 and H and inserting the arms of a pick-up truck" under the After removal of the stack of plates, the doors ar revclosed and as soon as the receiver M has been filled with plates, the lever I3 is swung to operate the toggle connection to swing the walls ii and 42 up for registration of the belts H with the belts 24 of the carrier section B. The plates received from the belts 39 on the belt I! will now be delivered to the belts 24 for discharge into the receiver 8. The filled receiver M is then pulled out to one side of the carrier structure. as shown by dotted lines in Figure 3, and, after opening of the doors I0 and ii, a pick-up truck will pick up the stack for transport to its destination.

As the plates are discharged from the respective conveyor belts they will pass over the upper end of the guide standards ll and against the the downwardly inclined material along an upwardly inclined path as the fingers move away from the material to separate the material from the conveyor with only the trailing edge of the material resting on the fingers thereby avoiding to the respective surand thus avoiding damage they carry relatively faces of the material where delicate coatings. 4 v

3. The method of stripping sheet material from a rack conveyor carrying .the material in upright position along an upper run thereof and swinging thematerial at the end of said run around a horidoors I! and II, the engagement of the plates with the inclined ends ll of the standards it and II and the inclined end I! of the standard 14 will cause them to move down accurately into alignment between the standards and the doors to build up the stacks. As soon as one receiver is filled, the lever II is manipulated for adjustment of the conveyor structure for delivery of the ,plates to the other receiver. Referring to Figure 4, a board Ii withspacersor cleats I! thereon may be placed in the receivers, before filling thereof, to receive the plates, the -plck-up arms being then inserted below the of a pick-up truck it with the stack from the eifecting a progressively 1 sheet material, whereby outer edges of th racked sheets zontal axis which comprises positioning. the traveling conveyor-in the path of said'material as the material is swung to downwardly inclined position for engaging the leading ends of the material and rapidly pulling the material off of the racks while the racks are moving away from the material and at such a speed that the action of the air against the lower faces of the sheet material causes the remain respective faces of the sheet material to away from the racks while movingtherefrom and limits contact between the racks and material being stripp d to the respective trailing edges of the the material is floated away from the conveyor and dragging of the raclr-.

opposing surfaces of the material-upon the racks is avoided.

4. In the method of-stripping upright racked work such as newly coated sheets from a traveling conveyor having work supporting members moving along an upper run and swinging about a horizontal axis to a lower must the end of the upper run, the steps of successively engaging the with a diagonally upwardlytraveling surface moving away from the downwardly sloping plane assumed by the work as it is c'arried about said horizontal axis toward the lower rim of saidconveyor, carrying the engaged edge of each sheet diagonally upwardly and"- outwardly on said traveling-surface. and thereby tion between the major area f the sheet-and its material on the fingerssurface at such a speed relative to the speed. of 5,

travel of the supporting members that transfer oi the sheets as aforesaid is efiected without slipping the coated surfaces of the sheets relative to either the supporting members or the traveling surface but rapidly enough to avoid contact of any sheet 1 by a following supporting member or sheet of material, whereby scratching or scraping of the coat- -ed surface of the sheets in the course of stripping is effectually avoided.

5. In combination with a conveyor carrying spaced upright fingers along an upper run thereof and swinging said fingers down around a horizontal axis at the end of said run, an unioader for said conveyor including a stripper positioned at the end of said conveyor at a level below said upper run and out of the path of said fingers but arranged to receive the leading edges of sheet material carried by the respective fingers as the material and "the supporting fingers. assume a downward inclination, and means for driving said .stripper'at a speed suflicient to pull each piece of sheet material from thefingers before the next adjacent finger contacts'the pulled material, the speed of swinging movement of the fingers supporting the pieces of sheet material being pulled so therefrom being such that asthe fingers recede the outer portions of the fingers swingv away from the respective pieces of sheet material and only the rear edges of the pieces of sheet material continue to have contact with the fingers while there is. relative movement between the respective fingers and the material as the latter moves with the stripper away i'rom the fingers, whereby to avoid draggin of the'finger-opposing surfaces of the pieces of sheet material upon the fingers while 4 in stripping relative motion.

6. In combination in apparatus of the character described, including a work conveyor having supporting members for advancing'work upper run thereof and for swinging the work pieces about a horizontal axis to a downwardly inclined position at the end of said run, a stripper conveyor so positioned adjacent to said end oi the upper run as to successivelyreceive the leading ends oi the work pieces after thework pieces have attained the downwardly inclined position, said stripper conveyor being adapted to swing the respective engaged downwardly inclined work pieces upwardly and away from the respective supporting members; while said members swing downwardly and rearwardly away from the work pieces, and means for driving said stripper conveyor at such a speed relative to said work conveyor as to carry the engaged ends of the respective work pieces along therewith and eflect separation of the work pieces from the supporting members while the ends oi the respective work pieces move downwardly in the swinging movement to! the respective membersuntil the work pieces-are rethe stripping conveyor and the supportin memberisattheedgesottheplateimtiltheplate has attained the fullmomentum of. the'stripplng conveyor, whereby scratching or marring oi the I treated surface 01' the'pla'te while transferring.

. from the treating conveyor to the stripping conspectively disposed on the stripper conveyor and moved onward for delivery before the next adjacent advancing member can contact the newly stripped work piece, whereby to substantially 7o avoid'relative dragging or slipping'movement of the areas of the work pieces intermediate their ends and the supporting'members or the stripper conveyor and assuring that by the time the .work

veyor their onward momentum will equal that o! the stripper conveyon '1. In combination in apparatus of the character described including a work conveyor having fingers for advancing work pieces in upstanding racked relation along-an: upper run of the work conveyor and for swinging the work pieces to downwardly inclined position at the end of said upper run, a stripper conveyor so positioned adjacent to said end of the upper run as to successively receive the leading ends of the downwardly inclined work pieces, and means for driving said stripper conveyor at such a speed relative to said work conveyor as to pull each work piece by its leading end to swing the work piece away from the respective supporting finger with a swinging separation action and withdraw the trailing end ot the work piece before the next adjacent finger can contact the work piece but after the work piece has attained the momentum of the stripper conveyor so that relative dragging or slipping contact between the face of the workpiece and either the work conveyor fingers or the stripper conveyor is avoided.

8. In combination with a treating conveyor for handling coated plates through a treating oven or the like while supporting the plates edgewise in a substantially upright position and having upstanding, supporting members thereon against which the plates are leaningly supported in the treating run of the treating conveyor, said mem-. bers swinging down and in reverse about a horizontai axis at the end of the treating run of the treating conveyor, a stripping conveyor "mounted on an upwardly inclined plane and traveling upwardly therealong {mm a position below the downwardly swinging plates on the supporting members and with its upper end located substantially beyond the treating conveyor, the inclined surface of the stripping conveyonbeing so disposed with relation to the path of swinging movement or the plate-supporting members'as to enga e the leading edges of the treated plates successively as'the plates are carried by the downpiecesin upstanding racked-relation along an wardly swinging supporting members into adownwardly inclined position wherein the respective leading edges of the inclined plates rest against the stripping conveyor, and means for driving the stripping conveyor at such a speed relative to-the treatingconveyor that the leading edge of each successive plate is carried upwardly and outwardly by the stripping conveyor to swing the plate away i'rom the associated supsupporting member swings away from the plate.

until the stripping conveyor has advanced the plate to such an extent that it entirely leaves the supporting member and is carried wholly by the stripping conveyor, the relationship being such that relative sliding motion between the face or the plate and the stripping conveyor and the supporting member is prevented because all engagement between the plate being stripped and veyor is efi'ectualiy avoided.

pieces come'to rest/fully upon'the stripper con- 7 Do mm. n. can. 

